1995 Chevy Camaro Z28 Rollcage - Raising The Bar

Whether You’re Road Racing or Drag Racing, a Rollcage Has Many Benefits

Regardless of your racing preference, whenever a rollcage is involved you know you’ve reached the point of no return. That’s not to say you couldn’t install a bolt-in cage and preserve the originality of your car, but when it’s time to really get serious with racing, a weld-in cage is the only way to go. Street cars are instantly dubbed as race cars when there’s an expanse of tubing in the driver’s compartment, but it’s part of the go-fast bug. And if that go-fast bug involves traveling the quarter-mile in less than 11.49 seconds, you’re going to need a rollbar. When you’ve reached the point of being kicked out of dragstrips because of a lack of safety equipment, it’s certainly time to step up with a five- or six-point rollbar.

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While a six-point bar is a common component in many street/strip cars, it is often upgraded to a full rollcage as the car continues to progress in terms of its performance. Cars quicker than 9.99 are required to have a full rollcage, meaning it must have A-pillar bars in addition to the main hoop, door bars, and rear support bars. Generally, an eight-point cage is sufficient, but certain body styles benefit from more complex rollcages, like a 10- or 12-point, which has additional attachment points. The rollcage installation seen here is a 10-point setup, good for elapsed times 8.50 and slower, so the owner has plenty of latitude when it comes to making horsepower.

We followed along with the guys from Top End Fabrication in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, as they built a rollcage from scratch. Jason Harvey and Shane Brown run the shop, and they’ve been installing rollcages in all sorts of cars for quite some time. For this article, they’ll do their magic on a ’95 Camaro Z28 owned by Daniel Anderson. With plans for big cubic inches, and the possibility of a power-adder, Daniel wants to be certain his fourth-generation Camaro will pass tech at the track, and keep him safe at all times. He could’ve bought a cage from a number of manufacturers, but he chose to have Jason and Shane fabricate a cage, as the end result will generally lead to a better-fitting piece. Pre-bent cages are designed with universal fitment in mind, but a custom cage can be fit tightly against the inner body panels, thus giving you more room inside the car.

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One very important aspect of a rollcage often goes unnoticed, and that is strength. Obviously, the main job of a rollcage is to protect the driver, but it also adds a great deal of strength to the chassis, especially one with a unibody structure, such as Daniel’s Camaro. The key to taking advantage of this strength is tying the subframes together, so Top End also fabricated and installed through-the-floor subframe connectors. Custom outriggers protrude from the main part of the connector, which makes for a super strong attachment point for the cage. With the addition of subframe connectors and a 10-point rollcage, Daniel’s Camaro is ready for major abuse at the track.

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1995 Chevy Camaro Z28 Rollcage - Raising The Bar

1. Here’s the starting point—a ’95 Camaro Z28, which is slated to be a stock suspension 275 drag radial car. Top End Fabrication starts by elevating the car and placing it squarely on jack stands so the full weight of the car is resting evenly.

1. Here’s the starting point—a ’95 Camaro Z28, which is slated to be a stock suspension 275 drag radial car. Top End Fabrication starts by elevating the car and placing it squarely on jack stands so the full weight of the car is resting evenly.

2.The first bar to be fabricated is the main hoop, so it’s time to grab a fresh stick of mild steel tubing and start measuring the distance and angle of each bend. Keep in mind that some folks use chromoly tubing for rollcages, but the mild steel is plenty strong. Its biggest disadvantage is weight.

3. After bending the main hoop, Jason and Shane test-fit it and make any necessary adjustments. Daniel wanted the tubing to be tucked tightly against the inner body panels, something that is generally out of the question with pre-bent cages. Top End is known for attention to detail and precise fitment.

4.With the main hoop tack-welded to the subframe connector outriggers, it’s time to fit the rear support bars, also known as “down bars.” These bars attach to another piece of round tubing, which runs horizontally from the left to the right rear framerail. Shane uses an angle finder to get a baseline angle so he can match the other side.

5. Fitting the second down bar, Jason and Shane cut the tubing in small increments to perfectly match the first bar in terms of angle. They also take several measurements to ensure the bars are the same distance from each side of the car. This isn’t a matter of strength—it’s a matter of consistent lines and good looks.

6. The down bars attach to this crossbar, which welds to a plate atop the rear framerails. The additional plate and rear bar ties the rear framerails to the rollcage, helping to stiffen the unibody structure.

7. With the rear section of the cage fitted and tack-welded, the guys carefully measure and figure out the exact location of each bend for the A-pillar bars, also known as the front down bars. These bars have complex bends, which must conform to the A-pillar and also match the profile of the roof to meet up with the main hoop.

8. Jason tack-welds the front down bar to the main hoop when he and Shane have it fitting to their liking. This bar also attaches to an outrigger on the custom subframe connectors, so there was a lot to be considered when fabricating this particular bar.

9. At this point, both front down bars are tack-welded into place, and they will eventually be supported with a horizontal bar at the upper edge of the windshield, along with a diagonal bar from corner to corner. These support bars, including gussets, will be fabricated later.

10. After cutting the tubing to length and fitting it, Shane welds in the rocker bars. These bars are often left out, but it’s an essential part of strengthening the car, and providing safety for the driver. Top End TIG-welds all of its cages, even during the tack-welding process to ensure a strong, clean weld.

11. Next is the dash bar. This is a simple but effective part of the rollcage. Before it’s tack-welded into place, Shane double checks to make sure it is level. In most cases, a stock dash will fit over a dash bar, but a moderate amount of trimming may be necessary.

12. Most of the main bars are tack-welded, so it’s time for one of the most important aspects of building a rollcage: fitting the driver. Daniel positions his seat where he wants it and holds the wheel so Shane can take measurements and figure out the height and angle of the door bar.

13. Some folks like a bent door bar or a swing-out door bar to make climbing in and out of the car easier, but Daniel went with a standard straight-door bar. Here, Jason lays down a TIG-weld after test-fitting and notching the tubing to match the specific angle of the bar. (See more about tube notching in the sidebar.)

14. With the door bars in position, the remainder of the cage can be finish-welded, and additional bars can be added for strength. The roof features a horizontal as well as a diagonal bar and gusset bars between the main hoop and front down bars. The main hoop also has support bars that tie into the main portion of the subframe connectors.

15. Another important feature of a rollcage is the crossbrace. This runs horizontally to strengthen the main hoop and provides a mounting point for the aluminum Kirkey seats, as well as the safety harnesses.

16. There’s no question that Top End Fabrication greatly strengthened this fourth-gen Camaro with its custom rollcage. Daniel now has a safe platform to build upon, and a strong chassis when it comes time to put the power to the ground.

1. Jason uses a hole saw for notching rollcage tubing and changes bit sizes according to tubing size. Some folks use a grinder to notch tubing, but using a drill press with a tube notching attachment is a much easier (and cleaner) way to notch a piece of tubing.

4. Here’s a great example of a perfect notch. The bar fits perfectly flush against its attachment point and the angle is precise. Also notice the grinding marks on the end of the tubing—this is done to remove scale, created by cutting the notch. It also removes any oxidation, which makes for a cleaner weld.

2. Many rollcage components, such as the rocker bars, dash bar, and crossbrace are installed completely level. With this in mind, Shane ensures the bar is level when it’s being installed in the notcher.

3. The tube notching attachment allows Top End to match the angle of a particular bar and notch it accordingly. This is a lifesaver when it comes to notching a bar that attaches diagonally because a dead-on straight notch will not offer the correct contour.

Check it out as we finish the build on the top end of our 383 Stroker. We put in a set of Edelbrock E-210 cylinder heads, an RPM Air-Gap manifold, all before sending it over to the Westech Performance Center to see the numbers it puts out. - Chevy High Performance Magazine » Read More